Touch of Reality
by mikmik121
Summary: FrancexChild!Seychelles Michelle is a young girl who's lived a perfect life until a month ago (from the beginning of the story) when her mother died. Her father, whom she hasn't seen since she was 3 comes to claim her and brings her back to his home in France. There, she'll learn her parents' pasts and her own uncertain future.
1. Prologue

Victoria, Seychelles.

May 24th, 2013.

The sun had been over the beautiful island nation for a few hours now. The long days of May dragged on, a not-so-busy time of the year for many of those living in the country.

Still, the air felt sticky and warm even if the hours of the day had begun not too long beforehand. The same as it usually seemed to be all the time, every day. It was a simple way of life that people grew used to.

Tourist spot and a perfect place for vacation. The bluest oceanic waters and beautiful homes built. Paradise here seemed so perfect, like none of life's harsh realities could come about and tear it limb from limb.

In this wonderland of peace and serenity was a home. A large home to be stated simple. So perfectly placed upon the beach with the palm trees swaying and the waves lapping against the shore.

All the windows were opened to let in the sea's cool breeze and every fan inside was turned on the keep the warm air moving in and out of the home to keep it that way.

In one of these rooms, though, a young girl lay in bed. A queen-sized bed with the most pure color of white cotton sheets. Laying amidst the top of the tousled blankets was a young girl, her darker skin contrasted against the soft covers. Her long, brown locks of hair were scattered among the sheets, tossed everywhere, even tied around her wrists and such.

Beside her bed stood a framed photograph of a young woman, near-identical in looks of the sleeping child. The woman was standing outside in the sunlight, the bits coming through the leaves of the trees above her illuminating bits of her coral colored dress.

In the corner of the frame was a picture of Jesus, watching over the small girl who lay asleep it seemed. Around the frame was a necklace with a wooden cross at the end of it, laying flat on the nightstand.

The girl groaned, shifting slightly up in her bed and letting her eyes flutter open as the morning sun hit her eyelids. Her brown eyes glowed as she looked upon the new day.

Turning her head over to the picture, she smiled and picked it up gingerly to look at it above her. "Good morning mama." Her voice chimed as she spoke, still a hint of her dreariness within. "Mrs. Haynes told me that papa is going to come visit. I wish you were still alive to see him again. It's been awful long since I've seen him last."

She cocked her head to the side as if she had gotten a reply. "Mrs. Haynes came about a month ago...right after you went to be with grandma and Jesus and everyone." Silence. "She was the rich white woman we worked for."

There was a knock at the door, jolting her from her conversation. "Michelle, are you okay in there?"

"Yeah! I'm saying 'good morning' to mama!" She replied back, sitting up in bed to look towards the door. "I'll be out in a minute!"

"Okay, okay." She chuckled before leaving her to awaken.

The young girl, Michelle, flopped back down, raising the picture over her head. "I gotta go mama. I love you!" She brought the picture down, pressing a chaste kiss on the image. "I'll be back to talk to you about what happened with papa tonight!"

Gingerly, she placed the picture down beside her and put the necklace around the frame once more. A ritual she had done pretty much every morning since her mother died last month.

Michelle got up, going to the corner of the bed and dropping to the floor before rushing out the door and to the kitchen. Mrs. Haynes was making something for breakfast in the kitchen, Michelle decided to give her company,

She walked in, giving off a radiant smile. "Good morning Mrs. Haynes! Breakfast smells yummy today!" The young girl came over, trying her best to peak over the counter to see what was being made exactly.

Before breakfast finished, there was a doorbell. Michelle looked at Mrs. Haynes with a bright grin. She smiled back but in her eyes was something different mixed in. Sadness or remorse.

Rushing to the door, Michelle could barely contain her excitement of seeing her father again. He was a businessman in France, not even having much in common with the girl. In fact, he rarely even visited the girl and her mother when she was alive. She hadn't learned anything about her father because of that.

She ran as fast as her little legs could carry her to the door, throwing it open the second she reached it. At the door stood a man in his late 20s to early 30s. His hair was down to his shoulders, wavy honey-blond and the most exuberant blue eyes. Fair skin, not as blessed by the sun's kiss as the young girl.

A grin appeared on the girl's face as she threw herself at his legs, latching onto him. "Papa! I missed you!"

"Is that my little Michelle?" He asked, taking her into his arms. "My, my, you've grown so much since the last time I've seen you. How old are you again?"

Michelle giggled, wrapping her arms around his neck. "You know I'm turning 7 in a month!"

"You're making your papa feel so old!" He cried out in fake despair. "How about we eat something, I have something to talk with you about honey."

"Sure papa!"

At the moment, the smiling child couldn't see a thing wrong. Her papa was here, holding her to his chest and giving her the attention she always craved from him.

* * *

Francis sighed, clasping his hands together as Michelle finished eating up her meal. "Michelle...why don't you go to your room and pack...?"

"Pack?" The word sounded almost foreign to her. "Are we going on a trip?"

He sighed, looked sadly towards the girl. "No, papa is going to be taking you back home with me."

"Papa, you have a home here?"

"Yes." He looked away, his blue eyes averting hers at any cost. "But we'll only be there for a few days before you come to France with me."

"France?" She questioned, cocking her head. "But when am I coming home?"

"You're not...coming back home." Francis whispered, looking towards her. "I need you to come to France with me..."

"I don't wanna." Michelle stated simply.

Francis stood up, coming over to her side and taking her hands. "Michelle...I can't let you stay here by yourself-"

"But Mrs. Haynes-!"

"Mrs. Haynes needs to go home too tomorrow." Francis breathed, lifting the girl up. "Come on...you need to get all your things together."

"I..." She said blankly. How could she leave just like that? How dare her father come in after 3 years after his last visit and expect her to leave her home behind! "I don't wanna go...! I like it here-!"

"I know..." He doted, rubbing her back as the small, angered voice filled with sadness. "You'll like it in France. I have a big home and a room all set up for just you that looks similar to this one."

"But this was mama's room!" Michelle cried, writhing in his arms. "She slept on this bed a-and it smells like her! I-I don't want a new room! I want my mama back!"

And for the first time since her mother died, Michelle began to cry.


	2. Chapter 1: Arrival

?

May 30th, 2013

Francis looked towards his daughter, staring out the window of the airplane into nothingness. The sky was dark but clear of any clouds. Only the moonlight shone but there was no water left for it to hit.

For hours, the two have been sitting in silence. Francis got the idea that Michelle was annoyed or just downright hated him at this point. One of the flight attendants came over to her and began speaking silently to her. She rolled her head to look towards her, her brown eyes full of exhaustion.

When she left, Francis took off his safety belt and went beside the girl, kneeling on the ground. "Michelle...please talk to me..." The girl refused to speak with him. "I know you're upset right now...but I couldn't leave you alone at home. Besides, we can go back..."

"Mama shouldn't've died..." She whispered, turning more towards the window. "Then I could live in the sunshine for the rest of my life in happiness...in the sunshine..."

"It's not her fault..." Francis breathed, grabbing the girl's shoulders and pulled her closer in an awkward sort of hug. "You know your mama loved you very much Michelle..."

"I know..." She faced Francis and wrapped her little arms around his neck and snuggled into his chest. "I miss mama..."

Francis lifted her up in his arms and carried her back to his seat, cradling her in his arms. Nothing he could say or do would make her feel better about loosing her mother, let alone make her any happier about moving away from the home she grew up in.

Her mother worked for Mrs. Haynes for years as a housekeeper. They were close and when Michelle's mother couldn't care for her newborn daughter on her own, Mrs. Haynes allowed her to live in her vacation home, paying her for keeping it clean and stocked with food.

Michelle grew up in that home, knowing of the poverty she and her mother used to live in. If Mrs. Haynes ever came to visit, she would always thank the woman for letting them live there.

Francis knew that and helped to support his lover and child as best as he could. He came for sparse visits, not staying much longer then a few days at a time.

And yet here he was, holding young Michelle in his arms as if she were a baby again. "Why don't you just fall asleep for a little while? It's very late out right now...and I think some sleep would be good for you..."

She nodded, resting her head in between the crevice of his arm and chest. He carefully brushed her hair, humming softly as he did so to try and lull her into sleep. It worked for the girl's heavy eyelids fluttered shut and her breathing became much more shallow.

He kissed her temple, relaxing back in his chair as the flight attendant came back. She smiled sweetly and came over, laying a blanket over the girl. "She was asking for one before. She's going to be freezing in the winter, you know that right?"

"I know...but I can't just leave her by herself. But I can't leave home either..." A moment of silence passed before he spoke up again. "She's so important to me too, even if it never seemed like it. I always worried about her and her mother."

"Pardon me for intruding, but isn't that why your last wife left you?"

He look up, pain and anger in his eyes. "No, she left because I kicked her ass out of my house. I don't even know what I ever saw in that woman in the first place."

"It was because of the child, wasn't it?"

Francis sat still in his seat, looking at Michelle's face. He sighed, brushing her face lightly. "She was just another beautiful face I'm afraid."

* * *

"Michelle...psst...Michelle darling..." The girl groaned, stretching a moment in Francis' arms before turning to the side again. "Come on Michelle...we've landed...you need to wake up..."

She repeated what she had just done but this time, her eyes opened up, quickly shutting once more and she grumbled in detest. "It's only for a few minutes Michelle..."

Unhappily, she stood up as her father led her off the plane and out into the chilling night. "Papa...I'm cold..."

Picking her up, he held her cold body close to him, rubbing her back. "It's going to get much colder than this later in the year. You might even see snow one day."

The girl scowled, not wanting it to be that cold. "I don't like the snow. Cold. Gross..."

Francis chuckled, carrying her into the back of the limousine. She stayed snuggled close, gathering all the warmth she could from him. "Don't worry. I'll make sure you're warm in the winter."

The car started and Francis started speaking with the driver. When she felt the car moving, Michelle allowed herself to drift off into sleep once more. Francis laid her down beside him, covering her back up.

Driving back to his home was very silent. Michelle barely moved, comfortably sleeping with her head on his lap. Francis played with her hair, braiding it and brushing it until he finally just tied her hair back. Sitting there for a moment, he wondered if she would look nice in pigtails.

Michelle sat up, leaning on his shoulder and mumbling incoherently. "Papa...are we almost there...?"

"Just a little longer..." He spoke softly back, pulling her back onto his lap. "I think you should go back to sleep for now..."

She groaned, leaning back on his chest. "I don' wanna go back to sleep..."

Francis chuckled, pulling her into his embrace,"then you don't have to. We'll be home in a few minutes..."

"Home..."

The rest of the ride went in silence, Michelle desperate to keep awake to catch her first glimpse of her new home. When the limo finally stopped and the door was opened, Michelle could hardly contain herself.

This house was huge. Well, at least in comparison to the last one she lived in, it was gigantic. Very elegant yet holding an old kind of charm to it. It was definitely much different then the home she grew up in for sure.

Not only that but there were maids and servants running all around. While Michelle was completely caught off by the presence of more people, she found amusement in such a different lifestyle.

Francis carried her to the door where one of the maids opened it up for them. "I hope your trip was good, sir."

"It was." He said with a smile. "You should go rest soon, you look exhausted."

"Once everything is in order sir."

He walked in, the girl gasping at the beautiful interior as well. The twin staircases and the chandelier hanging between it. The artwork hanging on the walls (which were pretty damn expensive, but she wouldn't know that). The carpeting leading to the stairs.

A young girl, maybe no more than 13 or 14 stood at the top of the staircase, long blond hair going past her back. "Papa! Why are you home so late!? You promised you'd be back before Matthew went to sleep!"

Michelle's eyes widened. Wasn't he _her_ papa? Who was this girl exactly? Francis never said anything about having _other_ children!

"Monique*, I tried to get back on time but it's hard." He placed Michelle down, taking her hand and leading her upstairs. "Monique, this is your half-sister Michelle."

The girl's blue eyes scanned Michelle for a moment before she looked back at her papa. "She looks different then us."

"Monique, don't be rude."

Michelle stood stiff in place. She didn't want to be here. No, this was so much different than she wanted it to be. Tears began to collect in her eyes and once more, she was crying. Francis lifted her up, pressing her face in his shoulder and rubbing her back gently.

"Do you want to go to bed Michelle...?" He murmured, brushing her hair calmly waiting for her to relax. "You've been up awful late..."

"Mama..." She muttered in between her soft cries.

Monique went beside them, rubbing Michelle's arm lightly. She didn't seem to notice, nor did she want to.

Francis carried her to a bedroom, opening the door carefully and letting little Michelle lay in bed. He flopped beside her, holding her close to him and tried to get the small whimpers to cease.

"Can you tell me what's wrong? If it's what Monique said-"

"You didn't tell me that you didn't just have me..." She said softly, clinging onto him. "You loved someone before mama..."

"Michelle..." He whispered, pulling her close. "You were born...between my first and second child with the same woman..."

"Before...?"

"Yes. Matthew is my youngest at 5..."

"But then how..." She froze, thinking about it for a moment. "You were married to someone when you met my mama...weren't you?"

Francis tensed up, holding her closer before letting out a sigh. "Yes. Yes, I was."

***Monique**: Monaco


End file.
